With a footprint not much larger than the Sasha W/P, the first Alexia, launched in the Fall of 2012, completely redefined what audiophiles thought was possible from a relatively compact design and rapidly evolved as one of Wilson Audio’s most successful products. Now, in the new Alexia Series 2, nearly everything has been reworked in an effort to offer an even better loudspeaker!
Wilson continues to refine its strategy for building modular systems that permits the engineers to optimize the geometry and cabinet construction of each of the drivers’ enclosures. Central to this effort is applying the best composites, accounting for the differing applications presented by the range of frequencies covered by specific driver/enclosure combinations. The Alexia Series 2 cabinet is now the beneficiary of Wilson’s latest composite research— W- material, called such because of its relationship to the development of the new WAMM. According to the press release, W- material possesses remarkable energy dissipation (damping) characteristics so far unobserved in any previous composite. Wilson’s engineers found that strategically placing W-material under the modules’ spike support areas greatly reduced unwanted energy at this critical mechanical interface.
The Alexia Series 2 utilizes wire management hardware first pioneered for Dave’s Magnum Opus, the WAMM Master Chronosonic. This enables to increase the midrange enclosure’s internal volume by 26.4%, and the woofer enclosure by 10.8%, without changing the external dimensions. The greater volume facilitates a new bracing geometry, which, in turn, allows for a single enclosure vent on the rear of the module. This larger vent replaces the two smaller vents on the Series 1. Similarly, the new internal geometry in the woofer cabinet, which includes an all-new cross brace strategy, reduces the resonant contribution of this module, and allows the rear port to be positioned in the center of the enclosure.
The modular design, with each of the three drivers mounted in their own enclosure, facilitates extremely fine adjustment within the time domain. The midrange and tweeter are adjusted independently of the woofer enclosure such that the three drivers can be precisely aligned for each unique installation. In the Series 2, Wilson has implemented a more advanced mechanism for adjustment of the tweeter module, using twice the number of increments, while the woofer baffle is now angled, which more correctly integrates the bass with the upper frequencies in the time domain. The Alexia is by a large margin the most time-domain correct loudspeaker in its category, Wilson states.
Wilson engineers have incorporated the WAMM Master Chronosonic version of Convergent Synergy tweeter, designated as the Mark V, into the Alexia Series 2 and work was done to make the new loudspeaker more amplifier friendly by slightly raising the nominal impedance. A new quick release, pressure-fit resistor cover panel enables easy access to the tuning and protection resistors. The Alexia Series 2’s crossover topology has been further refined for even greater signal-path integrity.
The Alexia Series 2 uses the Mechanical Diode spike system from the WAMM, resulting in improved mechanical grounding to the floor below. The new loudspeaker shares with the original its room-friendly footprint and its beautiful form factor—itself enhanced with a greater level of execution.
The Alexia Series 2 will begin shipping July, 2017.